Abstract
Annotation.This study assesses city-wide urban greening trends in Almaty, Kazakhstan, over a five-year period (June 2020-June 2025) by analyzing seasonal and annual patterns of vegetation using NDVI derived from Sentinel-2 imagery.Highresolution (10 m) Sentinel-2 Level-2A imagery was processed in QGIS, filtered to exclude scenes with cloud coverage ≥30%, and clipped to Almaty's administrative boundaries.NDVI values were calculated for selected cloud-free dates, aggregated at seasonal and custom annual scales (June-May), and statistically analyzed to evaluate spatial and temporal vegetation dynamics.Unlike previous localized studies, this research provides the first city-wide, multi-year assessment of Almaty's urban vegetation using consistent satellite-based NDVI analysis.It establishes a baseline for long-term green infrastructure monitoring and offers valuable insights for sustainable urban planning.The results demonstrate strong, predictable seasonal NDVI patterns aligned with Almaty's continental climate.Summer periods consistently showed peak greenness (~0.50-0.52NDVI), while winter periods displayed much lower values (~0.01-0.07).No strong or consistent trend in annual mean NDVI was observed, indicating overall stability in city-wide greenness during the study period despite ongoing urban forestry initiatives.